Favorite regional and local breads

[Guest Caren Palevitz]

The team behind Modernist Cuisine: The Art and Science of Cooking is hard at work on their next multivolume set, which is completely dedicated to bread. For the new book, we’d like to honor some of the greatest regional and hyper-regional breads from around the globe and we would love to hear from the eGullet community to expand our search.

 

In your opinion, what are the breads that your city or region is known for? What are the loaves that you can’t find anywhere else?

 

Example: Stretch bread, Syracuse, NY

 

You can read more about the new book here, and here for more information about who we are and what we do.

[Darienne]

"My" city is Montreal and the bread is the Montreal bagel. :wub:

[cakewalk]

And "my" city is New York, and I was just about to write the same thing that Darienne wrote (with one obvious change). The differences between the two bagels would make for a nice read. And if you really want to get complicated, you can include the Jerusalem bagel, which is an entirely different thing. There are probably others as well.

[ElainaA]

Stretch bread? I've lived 30 miles from Syracuse, NY for 40 years and my husband has lived here all his life. My daughter went to school in Syracuse so I spent a lot of time there.Neither of us have ever heard of stretch bread. I thought I knew the city's food stores and bakeries well. What is it? Where do you buy it? Or is this an invention that is supposedly a "local" thing that locals have never heard of?

Elaina

Edited June 23, 2015 by ElainaA (log)

[Lisa Shock]

Anpan, from Japan, is my favorite regional bread. It's fairly unique in that it does not come from a long tradition. What makes the real stuff very unique is the use of sakedane in the dough. (The home baker recipes online do not make the real thing.) I have a recipe from a professional baker's guild, but, I do not know the copyright info for it. There was a recipe posted HERE for a while, but it was taken down.

[Thanks for the Crepes]

My city is Cary, NC, a contiguous suburb of Raleigh. I'd say two of our distinctive regional breads are fluffy biscuits and cornbread, with many variations. Big, fluffy yeast rolls also play a big part in good Southern meals, but that is less well-known, I think. Cornbread takes on the form of skillet-cooked flatbreads (pone) in summer because it's so hot down here in that season, and folks are loath to turn on an oven running against the requisite A/C.

 

At pig-pickin's breads are usually hushpuppies, and/or commercial soft white spongy bread. I doubt the latter is fodder for MC, but it is a cultural institution. Spongy white bread is also de rigueur for our iconic summer tomato sandwiches, with Duke's mayo, of course. Hushpuppies show up at most fish fries too. Both fish fries and pick-pickin's are held outdoors in the summer and fall, again due to the heat.

 

Other ideas, not specific to the Southeast US, are:

 

sopapillas, NM

po' boy rolls, New Orleans, LA

ployes, Acadian buckwheat pancakes, ME

pasties

bierocks

 

Caren,

 

I missed whether you are even interested in quick breads or not in the scope of your project.

 

We have members from many countries. Franci, in particular, who is conversant in many of the regional foods from Italy, including breads. There's another member from the US, Ann_T, who makes absolutely phenomenal yeast breads!

 

Are you interested in regional pizza (crust) styles? Chinese stuffed steamed buns, other stuffed breads?

 

Good luck with your project!

Edited June 23, 2015 by Thanks for the Crepes (log)

[Thanks for the Crepes]

ElainaA,

 

I Googled "stretch bread Syracuse", and it's apparently legit, and sounds good. I hadn't heard of it either, not that that means anything. 

 

Maybe this is what Caren meant by "hyper-regional"?

[radtek]

I'd have to say "the tortilla" but perhaps not hyper-regional in the sense that they are so ubiquitous.

 

Pan Dulce in it's many varieties- I'm partial to ginger pigs (Marranitos) and pan de anis. 

Edited June 23, 2015 by radtek (log)

[LindaK]

Here in New England, there are two that I'd suggest: steamed brown bread and anadama bread. Both are made with molasses, once a staple sweetener in the region and memorialized in local history by Boston's molasses flood in 1919, when a tank of molasses exploded and 2+ millions of gallons flooded the North End neighborhood, crushing buildings and killing many.

 

There are some wonderful breads to be found in New England communities with Portuguese populations, some sweet, others not.

 

While not from New England, I hope the MC crew is looking at brioche and comparing the many different techniques that are used for this bread, some traditional, some more recent.  I'd love to have a better understanding of the merits of each.

 

[SylviaLovegren]

I have no idea whether it exists in Mongolia, but the square sesame breads served at Mongolian BBQ restaurants in the States (maybe elsewhere, too) is delicious and different.  The NYTimes says it's called shao bing and gives a recipe,but it uses baking powder and I'd swear the ones I ate were yeasted.

[cakewalk]

I have no idea whether it exists in Mongolia, but the square sesame breads served at Mongolian BBQ restaurants in the States (maybe elsewhere, too) is delicious and different.  The NYTimes says it's called shao bing and gives a recipe,but it uses baking powder and I'd swear the ones I ate were yeasted.

I never heard of these, but I love anything that contains sesame of any sort. Does this sound right to you? (Scroll down for the bread recipe) http://dooleysdoodles.blogspot.com/2011/02/my-favorite-mongolian-barbecue-sesame.html The dough is not yeasted, but is made with a roux. I've tried this with cakes, but not breads. They do look very interesting.

[Shalmanese]

China might not be the first country that comes to mind when you say bread but China has a phenomenal range of breads. From the fluffy white bao, to the crackly you tiao. There's the crispy scallion pancakes, the flatbreads of Xinjiang, you could write an entire multi-volume book on just Chinese breads.

[cakewalk]

China might not be the first country that comes to mind when you say bread but China has a phenomenal range of breads. From the fluffy white bao, to the crackly you tiao. There's the crispy scallion pancakes, the flatbreads of Xinjiang, you could write an entire multi-volume book on just Chinese breads.

Well that sounds like a new thread to me. 

[Thanks for the Crepes]

Ooh! Ooh!

 

Indian breads: roti, chapathi, naan, poori, paratha, batura, and some of these can be deliciously stuffed.

 

cakewalk,

 

I see the above message was delivered with a wink, but since Caren, the OP, said the focus of the book was for breads from around the globe, I think Chinese breads are quite on point. Who doesn't love a scallion pancake or char/cha siu bao? OK, I get it, you're saying they could write a whole 'nother book on Chinese bread stuff. 

 

Same for Indian, American, Greek, Turkish ...

 

What an exciting topic! I just love it.

 

I just remembered my favorite English contribution: Yorkshire pudding/popovers.

[Thanks for the Crepes]

I have no idea whether it exists in Mongolia, but the square sesame breads served at Mongolian BBQ restaurants in the States (maybe elsewhere, too) is delicious and different.  The NYTimes says it's called shao bing and gives a recipe,but it uses baking powder and I'd swear the ones I ate were yeasted.

 

Link to wiki article: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shaobing

 

It says they are unleavened and layered, but the photos sure look yeasted to me too. Lots more images of shao bing on Google images. If they truly are unleavened, that is one impressive layering technique.

[dcarch]

China might not be the first country that comes to mind when you say bread but China has a phenomenal range of breads. From the fluffy white bao, to the crackly you tiao. There's the crispy scallion pancakes, the flatbreads of Xinjiang, you could write an entire multi-volume book on just Chinese breads.

 

Steamed breads and cakes.

 

Tangzhong method of bread making.

 

Deep fried breads

 

 

dcarch

[cakewalk]

Ooh! Ooh!

 

Indian breads: roti, chapathi, naan, poori, paratha, batura, and some of these can be deliciously stuffed.

 

cakewalk,

 

I see the above message was delivered with a wink, but since Caren, the OP, said the focus of the book was for breads from around the globe, I think Chinese breads are quite on point. Who doesn't love a scallion pancake or char/cha siu bao? OK, I get it, you're saying they could write a whole 'nother book on Chinese bread stuff. 

 

Same for Indian, American, Greek, Turkish ...

 

What an exciting topic! I just love it.

 

I just remembered my favorite English contribution: Yorkshire pudding/popovers.

I wasn't really thinking about the book at all. I thought it would make a good topic for eGullet, similar to the Chinese Desserts topic. I don't have any background about Chinese breads, but Shalmanese seems to know his stuff, and the wink was for him to maybe start a new topic. 

[weinoo]

New York City - as mentioned above, bagels. 

 

But also - Bialys.  Real Jewish rye bread - back in the day - corn rye.

 

And NY style pizza.

 

San Francisco - sourdough made famous by Boudin Bakery.

[ElainaA]

ElainaA,

 

I Googled "stretch bread Syracuse", and it's apparently legit, and sounds good. I hadn't heard of it either, not that that means anything. 

 

Maybe this is what Caren meant by "hyper-regional"?

Very hyper regional indeed! I consulted Google  - there is quite a story about this bread, including a lawsuit. The funny thing is that, although I have never heard of it by name, I have eaten it many times and actually know many of the people mentioned as the bread's developers. It seems the it is pretty much unique to the restaurant Pastabilities (and, through litigation, they are trying to keep it that way, suing a former employee who opened his own bakery and is selling the bread there. I can't find anything on how - or if- the suit has been resolved.). However, the story says it was first made at Rosalie's Cucina, a lovely restaurant in nearby Skaneateles. One of Rosalie's former bakers has opened a bakery in the town where I work, Cortland, selling bread that, to me, is identical to the bread at Pastabilites. It is not, however, called stretch bread. It is excellent bread, very similar to the pain a l'ancienne in Reinhart's The Bread baker's Apprentice.

Elaina

[Thanks for the Crepes]

cakewalk,

 

You're absolutely right! It would make a great thread (the Chinese breads), if some of the knowledgeable folks we're so lucky to have around here choose to contribute.

 

Can anyone tell I just love breads from all around the world? 

 

Edit: to clarify the great thread I meant was Chinese breads, because other posts intervened while I was posting, and messed with the continuity.

Edited June 23, 2015 by Thanks for the Crepes (log)

[weinoo]

New Haven, Ct. - Pepe's Clam Pizza

 

Isn't there a tomato pie from New Jersey as well?

[Shel_B]

Sorry if I missed this ... In the San Francisco Bay Area it's sourdough.

[Darienne]

weinoo reminded me of one of my old favorites...can you get it anywhere now?...real pumpernickel.  :wub:    From my childhood in Montreal, of course.

[Deryn]

Is this to include leavened (with either yeast or other leaveners?) and unleavened breads? Sweet (including doughnut type breads) and savoury? Exactly what does the term 'bread' encompass these days?

 

Ottawa Ontario Canada - birthplace of Hooker's Beavertails (a yeast leavened 'dough' flatbread of sorts - can be topped with/dipped in either sweet or savoury ingredients - garlic, cinnamon, cheese). I would call it a 'bread' but perhaps we need more explanation because it isn't, in Beavertail form, a 'loaf' really.

 

I too would have mentioned steamed brown bread for instance but it is not a yeast bread, at least the recipe I know (which has East Coast roots as far as I know - and is baked in Nova Scotia as well as along the northeastern United States - particularly where it is known as Boston Brown Bread).

Edited June 23, 2015 by Deryn (log)

[Alex]

I see that some folks are posting "bread plus" -- baked dough with significant other ingredients -- e.g., pizza and pasties. Are those considered part of the information you're seeking, or are you going after breads that are commonly consumed as bread per se?